Customer Reviews

Look At The Fool

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have read many a bad review of this albumn but although it is different in style to his other work, it is just as good! I first heard the song Look at the fool on the Twenty Four Seven soundtrack which prompted me to buy this albumn. It is a brillent emotionally charged bluesy song, the rest of the songs are more upbeat and mowtown in style. Most of the songs do not contain the most inspiring lyrics but the tunes are incredibily catchy and addictive. This is a great funky album, perfect to put on before you go out for an evening!

As other reviewers have, I`m glad to see, pointed out, this has always been mystifyingly underrated (just as - despite the sublime Once I was and Morning Glory - the angular, cod-psychedelic Goodbye and Hello has perennially been much overrated). The title song is gorgeous. And Tijuana Moon opens with this breath-halting lyric, sung virtually a capella in Tim`s divine falsetto:

`The padre told me all the hymns were born

out of the saxophone...`

Wanda Lu is Louie Louie in Rio, the whole thing in fact is suffused with sultry south-of-the-border sexuality (Tim loved the ladies as much as they loved him) and its Carnival time! This is dripping with soul and sex. It`s not TB at his greatest (look to Blue Afternoon or Happy Sad, or the crazed Starsailor, for that) but you`ll have a great time if played on the loud side.

Greetings From LA, an earlier album, was Tim`s gritty, dirty soul foray; this is exultant festival time. Enjoy.

I don't think the amazon reviewer and I are listening to the same album ''a deteriorated voice'' i don't see any evidence of that he pushed the boundrys with further each album.(i have a live album from 1975 his voice gives me goosebumps it's so good)

I think the fact he refused to be a one trick pony and do the same album time after time to keep the critics happy might be upsetting for some people who aren't broad minded enough to except change; But for me it is just another expression of the true talent this exceptional singer had.

However if your not into your funk/soul i can understand this album not being to taste but he covered a few genre's in his short life he made nine studio albums...If you don't enjoy this check out the anthology for a overall view of his ability

Say what you will about Tims' lack of "Being Commercial"..The one thing you can never say is that his voice is anything but GREAT! His control of the five plus octives just amazes you with his ability to climb and dance through the melody. I had the pleasure of being a friend of his. I have the Guild 12 string he used to play. The energy and love that Buckley put into his music is like no other. HE IS NOT THE BACKSTREET BOYS....THIS IS A REAL TALENT.

If anything, I can see where all the misunderstanding and confusion came from with this record. It's parsecs from his first record. No lie. This is practically theatrical. The title tune may be stranger than Lorca! Some people would have you believe like this is not even a Tim Buckley album. Like he was pulling some kind of Andy Kaufman stunt or something. This is how different Look At the Fool is from his other "product"--who could predict this move? I see him as an artist who had lots of places to go--maybe places his fans couldn't follow--but in listening a million times to all his work I can almost see how he ended up with these grooves. This type of instrumentation can be added to many of his songs--even his intimate acoustic musings. A horn part here and there, a wolfy big beat--a bitey lead guitar that he could mimic with his voice. He was a Big Talent. In a way, I don't see how he could have any "purist" listeners at all. He always moved. Why shouldn't he get his groove on with this stuff? Thinking about it now, when I was younger I also dismissed this album as somewhat inferior. I had no idea what he was doing. After all this time how could it matter? I'm happy I have another Buckley album to enjoy. Music fans tend to want Repeat, Repeat, Repeat. Some artists just won't go that way. We may not always like where he went, but he definitely went a long ways in a very short life. With all the things we've done and been and gone how can we fault his deal?

Don't get me wrong Tim was great with his folk music, but how can his fan's turn his back on him when he went a bit soul and funk??? Are they stupid? Claiming Tim sold out? Sold out is what we have today with the crappy pop and mainstream music out there. Why would Tim sing soul? Because he had the voice for it and many talents in which he could to many styles, I have 3 Tim Buckley albums in which I purchased this last Sunday and it was Look at the Fool,Sefronia,Greetins from L.A. all soul with some funk. If this man would have not passed away so young I believe he would be respected up there with the likes of Elton John, the material Tim left us with show's that this man a great talented artist and musician, we see were son Jeff got his skill's from.

I'm no Tim Buckley historian, but by 1974 both his personal and professional lives were pretty much in disrepair so you could understand the sense of personal and musical desperation that permeated 1974's "Look At the Fool". Having endured a string of poorly selling albums that were widely slammed by critics, he'd been dropped by a sting of labels (Frank Zappa's Discreet imprint signed him for this outting). He was virtually penniless and rapidly running out of career options. Against that backdrop Buckley released "Look At the Fool" (the album's original working title was "Tijuana Moon" but Warner Brother executives apparently had an issue with it),. I have to say it's one of the most enigmatic albums I've ever heard. While Buckley never had rock's greatest voice, there was always something charming hearing him trying to make the most of his limitations and plunge headlong and with full abandonment into different genres. It certainly drove his record labels crazy and left legions of fans wondering what he was thinking, but it was always interesting. And then along comes this album where on large chunks of the set you were left to wonder what Buckley was trying to do ... Unlike anything else in his catalog, Buckley was clearly flaying around looking for a genre or style that could re-establish at least some of his commercial viability while leaving the flexibility to wrap his highly personal and seemingly sex crazed lyrics in the results ('Who Could Deny You'). This time out the jazzy moves and outright experimentation were long gone with the predominant sound being strange mix of blue-eyed soul, quasi-funk (yeah, as in George Clinton), and Latin influences (lots of nods to Mexico throughout the set). One of the strange byproducts was that at times Buckley literally sounded like he was trying to channel Elmer Fudd. The results were occasionally quite strange, but it was also intriguing - kind of like trying to take your eyes off of a horrific traffic accident. You're hoping that nobody was seriously hurt, but there's something about the carnage that you can't take your eyes off of ... And to give credit where due, 'Wanda Lu' made it clear that Buckley could convincingly handle a garage rocker.

- Musically 'Look at the Fool' was an intriguing mid-tempo rocker that served as the perfect example of Buckley's strange vocal acrobatics. While it was hard to accurate describe the weird performance, to my ears his nasally and shrill delivery sounded a bit like he was trying to disgorge a chicken bone from his throat, or had been sucking on a lemon for a week. Strange way to open the album, but I actually kind of enjoyed it ... rating: *** stars

- Tim Buckley gets funky ... well believe it or not, that was exactly what you got on 'Bring It On Up'. Once you got over the initial shock, the results weren't half bad as you would have thought, though the backing singers threatened to blow him out of the water. rating: *** stars

- A weird hybrid of blue-eyed soul, funk and jazzy moves, 'Helpless' was another song that made you scratch your head in puzzlement. Maybe because it was such a creative hodgepodge, it's always been a song I've enjoyed (and there was a tasty fuzz guitar solo to boot ...) rating: **** stars

- With Buckley doing his best Dr. John-meets-Elmer Fudd impersonation, 'Freeway Blues' was actually funny for showing how unfunky an ex-folkie could really be. Bad idea with even worse execution. rating: ** stars

- It took a little effort to get accustomed to the falsetto, but once it got going 'Tijuana Moon' was one of side one's better performances. Yeah, the arrangement was cluttered and would have benefited from a more streamlined approach, but Buckley actually displayed some energy and enthusiasm on this one, though the backing singers did blow him away this time out . Shame the song was so short. rating: **** stars

- Side two started out with Buckley taking a stab at David Clayton-Thomas ... A surprisingly enjoyable slice of blues-rock, its doubtful you'd ever have guessed this was Buckley and though the genre may have seemed an odd choice for Buckley, he turned in a great performance. Nice lead guitar from Lee Underwood. Wonder how much influence former BS&T bassist Jim Fiedler had on this piece ? rating: **** stars

- 'Who Could Deny You' may have been one of the most pop-oriented and radio friendly songs Buckley ever wrote. Very different and surprisingly enjoyable ... rating: *** stars

- Built on a great little guitar riff and some great soulful horns that kicked the song along in the acceleration lane, 'Who Could Deny You' was one of the standout performances - swinging and sultry with Buckley actually sounding like he was enjoying himself for a change. Would have sounded fantastic on FM radio. rating: **** stars

- Hum, opening up with a BS&T-styled horn arrangement, 'Down in the Street' found Buckley returning to his David Thomas-Clayton impression. This time around the results were even better thanks in large measure to the song's rocking melody. (In case anyone cared, the back cover track listing managed to get the song order wrong, showing this as the last song.) rating: *** stars

- For anyone who doubted Buckley could actually handle an outright rocker, then I offer 'Wanda Lu'. Yeah, the lyrics were outright sexist, but this was the kind of rollicking garage rock that made stars out of folks like Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs ... I can hear long standing fans complaining, but this is simply one of my favorite Buckley performances. Nice to hear him simply cut lose for once .... Shame Discreet tapped it as a single, but didn't make an effort to actually market the song. rating: ***** stars

Discreet tapped the album for a promo single (never seen a stock copy), in the form of:

- 'Wanda Lu' b/w 'Wanda Lu' (Discreet catalog number DSS 1311)

If you love his early stuff chances are this one will be difficult to swallow. On the other hand, if his early work struck you as pretentious and overblown, or if your expectations were limited and you could deal with the occasionally weird vocal stylings, this might prove a mildly enjoyable surprise. It was for me.

"Look at the Fool" track listing:

(side 1)

1.) Look at the Fool (Tim Buckley) - 5:13

2.) Bring It On Up (Tim Buckley) - 3:27

3.) Helpless (Tim Buckley) - 3:20

4.) Freeway Blues (Tim Buckley - Larry Beckett) - 3:12

5.) Tijuana Moon (Tim Buckley - Larry Beckett) - 2:41

(side 2)

1.) Ain't it Peculiar (Tim Buckley) - 3:36

2.) Who Could Deny You (Tim Buckley) - 4:23

3.) Mexicali Voodoo (Tim Buckley) - 2:25

4.) Down in the Street (Tim Buckley) - 3:21

5.) Wanda Lu (Tim Buckley) - 2:38

In spite of an active touring schedule in support of the album the collection did little (savage reviews from the critics probably didn't help sales) and Warner Brothers/Dscreet promptly dropped him from its recording roster. Buckley subsequently ended his long-standing business relationship with manager Herb Cohen and within a matter of months he was dead of a heroin overdose.

I came to know this work quite by accident : Buckley met my wife at a show and gave her a copy of the album...this is about 30 years ago. This was not one of buckley's folksey/bluesy efforts, rather a searing sometimes excrutiatingly honest portrayal of his inner demons and obsessions. he is aided and abetted by one of the best rhythm sections of the R&B era; the famous Earl Palmer on drums , and his buddy, Chuck Rainey on bass...reason enuf to dig this side. It's a trip to the dark side of rock &roll hosted by one of the most unique voices of all Time.

What is up with hatin' on the funk? Everybody gotta love some good old soulin' funk! There seems to be many Tim Buckley fans who only approve of his jazzy slower stuff early in his career (which is great) and for some snide reason dislike all his later more freakish down-on-it funk, these people need to take a major dose of motherfunk to the brain! This is some good stuff!

After deciding on which seller to buy this from and pay, they did not have it. If you don't have the friggin item, then don't advertise it. You wasted my time and had to refund my card.

I was NOT happy with this!!!

In my opinion this is Tim's best album.. I loved it when it came out, played it to death and would like a CD copy. Still haven't bought one.